Helping children with disabilities combat negative socio-emotional outcomes caused by bullying through extracurricular activities

ABSTRACT

Past studies have indicated students who have disabilities are at a higher risk of experiencing bullying victimization in comparison to other student groups. Extracurricular activity participation has shown to establish better social outcomes for students. These positive social outcomes indirectly decrease the amount of times a student is bullied. The following study uses the National Crime Victimization Survey—School Crime Supplement (NCVS/SCS) to analyze the bullying occurrence rates experienced among students, with disabilities being a focal variable. To explore the relationship between extracurricular involvement and bullying occurrence rates, this study employs a binary logistic regression to determine if athletic and non-athletic extracurricular activities have an impact on the number of times a student with disabilities experiences bullying. Implications for future social work practice and research are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Disabilities
• extracurricular activities
• school bullying

Data availability statement

The data described in this article are openly available in the Open Science Framework at DOI:10.17605/OSF.IO/TPA6U.